My brother is an Irish Traditional musician (geeky enough to have studied in County Donegal) and also a fan of other Irish traditions – like soda bread. Unfortunately, he has developed an allergy to gluten, but luckily, the Ballymaloe Cookery School has my back. Enjoy making this un-traditionally traditional version of soda bread. If you’ve never tried the real thing (and really most Americans haven’t!), try this or the original recipe (in an earlier post). You won’t regret it – easy and tasty! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread
(Courtesy Darina Allen & Rosemary Kearney at The Ballymaloe Cookery School)
- 10 oz rice flour
- 4 oz tapioca flour
- 2 oz dried milk
- 1 level teaspoon baking soda
- 1 heaped teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaped teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar, optional
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 10-12 fluid oz buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 450F. Dust a work surface lightly with rice flour and also dust the center of a baking sheet with about a 12inch circle of rice flour, set aside. Sift all the ingredients together into a large bowl and whisk to mix well. (This ensures even mixing and no clumps) Make a well in the flour mixture. Lightly whisk the egg and buttermilk together and pour most of the mixture into the well. Mix immediately and thoroughly with your hand, fingers outstretched like a claw, or with a wooden spoon, in circular movements from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever increasing circles. Add remaining buttermilk mixture if necessary; mixture should be softish, not too wet or sticky – there should be no dry bits at the bottom of the bowl. The trick is to not over mix the dough – just enough to get the dough together. Turn the dough onto work surface. Quickly wash and dry your hands. With rice floured fingers, pat dough together into a round about 2 inches thick- just enough to make it neat- and place on prepared baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut about 1/8 inch deep cross on the top and over the edges, so the bread will rise high. Put into preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until golden and the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from tray immediately, cover in a clean, non-terry cloth dish towel to soften the crust and let cool on a cooling rack. Let cool most of the way before cutting, or it will be difficult to slice. Traditionally, the bread is cut or broken along the pre-cut lines, then the quarters are each sliced. Serve with salted butter, preferably Kerrygold. Bread will be good for eating fresh only on the day it is made, but you can freeze it. Slices can be toasted the next day, or you can make leftover bread into gluten-free breadcrumbs in a food processor. By the third day it will be rock hard because of the lack of preserving agents. You can add raisins, caraway seeds or herbs to the dry mixture, if desired. You can also make this into smaller loaves or scones.
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